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Historical and Genealogical 

Sketch 



of the 



Nichols - Thomas Family 



in Ohio 



With T^artial ylncestry, and Collateral Relatives 

in Virginia. 



Read at Twenty-first Family Reunion, at Home of 

Louise Hiskett, August 26, 1 909, by 

Robert F. Bartlett, Esq. 



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For Private Distribution 



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NICKOLS-THOMAS 



At the twentieth annual reunion of the Nickols-Thomas family you 
elected me historian, to prepare a genealogical and historical sketch of 
the family, and pursuant to that election I now report. 

We date the family, in Ohio, from our grandmother, Sarah Thomas 
Nickols, who came to this neighborhood, then Marion countv, Ohio, in 
the year 1827, with her numerous family of eight daughters and four 
sons, and located immediately south of Mt. Gilead, then called Youngs- 
town, in honor of Jacob Young, who laid out the village. Afterwards 
the name was changed, because of another more prominent Youngs- 
town in Mahoning county, Ohio, to Mt. Gilead, in honor of a village in 
Loudoun county, Virginia, from which county she emigrated to Ohio. 

About the year 1825 our grandfather, Nathan Nickols, jr., contract- 
ed to sell his farm,* which was located in the Piedmont Valley in Vir- 
ginia, and which lay partly on the mountain side and partly in the valley 
on the east side of the Blue Ridge mountains, between Round Hill and 
Bluemont (then Snickers ville,) and coming to Ohio on horseback, bought 
of Lodovic Hardenbrook, a soldier of the Revolution, the one hundred 
and sixty acres of land immediately south of Mt. Gilead. He also 
bought of the government five other quarter sections, in all, nine hun- 
dred and sixty acres of land in the vicinity of Mt. Gilead, planning to 
settle his family, and give each one a small farm. 

He returned to Virginia and in March, 1827, while loading fertilizer 
at Leesburg, Virginia, he ruptured a blood vessel, and died March 21st, 
1827. Two of the children, Mahala and Mordecai. had previously died in 
childhood, and the graves of the three yet remain in Virginia. 

When grandfather died on that March day in 1827, it was a more 
than ordinarily sad time for our heroic old grandmother and family, for 
the Virginia farm was contracted to be sold, nearly a thousand acres of 
land were bought in Ohio, and she and the twelve children remained, 
the oldest of whom, uncle John, was in his twenty-fifth year of age, and 
the youngest, uncle Nathan, was a babe not quite eleven months old. 

Grandmother was advised to give up the emigration to Ohio, but she 
said "she beheved Nathan had divine guidance in making the plans and 
she would do her best to carry out his plans," which she did. 

I do not know just the date of starting or arrival here, but she came 
in the summer of 1827. I am certain that she had no airship or aero- 
plane, or dirigible balloon to waft her to Ohio in a few hours, or railroad 
train to bring her in a day and night, as we have come ; but I do know 
that she loaded her goods and twelve children into covered wagons, with 

*NOTE— The old farm is now (1909) owned by Mr. Volney Osborn. 



4 

provisions for the journey of many days, and took the road thru Snick- 
er's Gap in the Blue Ridge mountains and came thru the Allegheny 
mountains on the old National Pike part of the way, and thru an almost 
trackless forest, to this land of promise. I cannot give you the events 
of that journey, but you can readily imagine them for yourselves. When 
she arrived she found many Indians still here, but peaceable. 

On April 5th, 1832, she wrote a letter to hnr mother, Martha Davis 
Thomas, in Virginia, (and I have that letter in my possession) in which, 
among other things, she wrote this : I have met with a good many diffi- 
culties since I have been here, but 1 have made out to get through them 
all, and am not sorry that I am here, and I wish you were here, for I think 
you would see more satisfaction here than you do there, for we all live 
in peace and harmony." 

I do not know how grandmother managed for a home at first, but she 
was contented. Soon a brick house was built on the location where John 
Dawson now resides, for the building of which, grandfather Nathan 
gave $1000.00 in his last will. She planted an orchard west of and ad- 
joining her house, with trees from the nurseries of Jonathan Chapman, 
nicknamed "Johnny Appleseed." There grandmother lived in "peace 
and harmony" until June 23d, 1839, when she departed this life. Her 
grave is near the southwest corner of the old cemetery in Mt, Gilead, O. 
For two generations the family had been Friends or Quakers, and uncle 
George was of that denomination at his death in September, 1885. 

After her arrival in Ohio, grandmother entered five more quarter- 
sections of government land in her vicinity, for it was grandfather's 
plan to give each one of the twelve children one hundred and sixty acres 
of land, and have them settle near each other, so that in the end the 
family owned seventeen hundred and sixty acres of land, only a small 
portion of which is yet owned by the descendants of grandfather and 
grandmother Nickols. Cousin George 0. Coe owns one half of his 
mother's ancestral homestead, and Ella and William Detwiler own the 
other half. Ella Blaney Detwiler is a granddaughter of Margaret Nick- 
ols Coe and a great-granddaughter of Nathan and Sarah Thomas Nickols. 

I think you all thank God today that you are descended from such a 
heroine as grandmother Sasah Thomas Nickols. 

You doubtless want to know something of the genealogy of your 
ancestors. 

Grandfather Nathan always signed junior to his name, and he spelled 
his name N-i-c-k-o-l-s, and I have his genuine signature. He was born No- 
vember 30th, 1780, and died March 21st, 1827. His father was Nathan 
Nickols, Sr., and ^mes Nickols was his grandfather, all born, reared 
and died in Loudoun county, Virginia. Grandfather Nathan, Jr. owned 
two slaves at his death, Oliver and Susannah, whom he freed by his last 
will, and they came to Ohio with grandmother and on the way settled in 
Belmont county, Ohio. 



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Grandmother Sarah Thomas Nickols was the daughter of Owen 
Thomas, who was born July-&th, 1754, and Martha Davis Thomas. Grand- 
mother was born in Loudoun county, Virginia, June 13th, 1782 and as 
nearly as I can learn she had four sisters, Susannah, who married John 
Ross, Ruth, (known as little Ruth.) Ann and Matilda, and three broth- 
ers, Joseph, Philip and Jesse Thomas,\the latter of whom settled in 
Richhill township, Muskingum county, Ohio, before October 13th, 1823, 
as I have a letter written by him to his mother, Martha Davis Thomas, 
in Virginia, from Richhill township, of that date. He visited in this 
(Morrow) county in 1848 or 1849. I have not been able to learn anything 
of his descendants. 

Philip Thomas (known as "Qncle Phil") was also a brother to our 
grandmother, Sarah Thomas Nickels, and came to Ohio with her and 
settled near her. Many of the cousins here today well remember 
"Uncle Phil," and his ejaculations of "Praise to God," as he drove 
along the roaa. He was a man of great piety and honesty, and the 
ejaculations are not mentioned in any spirit of levity, but of respect. 
His only living descendants are two great grandchildren, Bert C. Thom- 
as, a clerk in the office of Insular Affairs in the War Department, Wash- 
ington D. C., and Miss Bessie Thomas, (Bert's sister) of Columbus, 0. 

Joseph Thomas was another brother of Grandmother Sarah, and of 
the collateral branches descended from Susannah, wife of John Ross, 
and of Joseph Thomas, I will write further on. , 

The grandfather of Sarah Thomas Nickols, and father of Owen 
Thomas, was David Thomas, who was born at London Tract, Pennsyl- 
vania, August 16th, 1726. He was educated af Hopewell, New Jersey, 
and the degree of Master of Arts was conferred upon him in 1769, by 
Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, which was founded by the 
Baptists about the year 1750. 

He became a Baptist preacher and missionary and came to the Pied- 
mont Valley in Virginia before the year 1765, and "after many years of 
arduous and successful labors in Virginia, during which time he founded 
seven or eight churches, and served Broad Run, Occoquan, Mill Creek 
and Cherry Grove as pastor," in the year 1778 he built a stone build- 
ing at Cherry Grove for a church, school and residence (with sliding par- 
titions) at the foot of the Blue Ridge mountains, between Round Hill 
and Bluemont, Virginia. On June 12th, 1909, I saw the old church, 
which is in a good state of preservation and in use for Sabbath school. 
"He was, in Virginia, a champion of civil and religious liberty, and suf- 
fered severe persecutions. He was a contemporary of Patrick Henry 
and Thomas J efferson and was held by bath of them in high esteem. " 
He was a little older than either of them, and he highly valued them as 
friends of liberty, before and during the Revolutionary period. 

"Later in the eighteenth century he moved to Kentucky where he 
became pastor of Washington church in Mason county, Kentucky, and after- 



wards went to Jessamine county, Kentucky, where he died July 5th, 
1796. t haye seen his last will, which was executed June 23d, 1796, and 
probated (and is of record) in probate court at Leesburg, Virginia, 
September 12th, 1796. He married August 15th, 1753. His wife was 
the widow Shriede whose maiden name was Ruth Rogers. She was 
born February 25th, 1727, and died March 30th, 1794, and was of English 
descent. They were the father and mother of our great grandfather, 
Owen Thomas, who married Martha Davis, the Quakeress, of Penn- 
sylvania. 

The father of David Thomas, the Baptist preacher and patriot, and 
the great grandfather of Sarah Thomas Nickols, was also named David 
Thomas. He was a Welshman and came from Wales early in the 18th 
century and settled at Giiinead, Bucks county, Pennsylvania. To the 
oldest set of first cousins here today, he was our great, great, great 
grandfather. He was only one of sixteen, of various degrees. It is a 
rather curious fact, that in ten generations of one's ancestry, one well 
born, has ten hundred and twenty-two grandfathers of the various de- 
grees of consanguinity, and also one thousand and twenty-two grand- 
mothers. It is so ; figure it out for yourselves. One half is in the ma- 
ternal, and one half in the paternal line. 

I am sure you want to know more of the children who were brought 
by grandmother to Ohio from Loudoun county, Virginia, in 1827. 

1st. Uncle John Nickols was the oldest. He was born November 
30th, 1802, and he married Tacy Nickols, a distant relative in Virginia, 
before 1827. He was a skillful hunter, and could throw a stone and kill 
a squirrel nearly as well as with a rifie, and it is said that he once 
brought down a porcupine from a tree, nearly ninety feet up, at the 
second throw, with a stone. In a few years people became too plenty, 
and he sold his farm and cabin, east of, and adjoining Mt. Gilead, and 
went to Dade county, Missouri. 

He served as a soldier the first year of the war with Mexico. In the 
Civil war he and his family were on the Confederate side, and his son 
Swithen, whose legs were stopped in their growth when he was a small 
boy, by a dose of calomel, given by an incompetent doctor, was a caval- 
ryman on the rebel side. He could mount a horse by swinging himself 
on by his strong arms. I know but little of Uncle John's family. 

2d. Aunt Ruth Nickols, the oldest daughter, who was married to Al- 
benCoe, Sr., in Virginia before Grandfather Nathan's death, was born 
November 3d, 1805, and died January 22nd|, 1848. Her grave is in River 
Cliff cemetery, Mt. Gilead, Ohio, beside that of uncle Alben, who died 
April 11th, 1869. Their children were Nathan Nickols Coe, born May 
10th, 1823, in Loudoun county, Virginia, and died in Morrow county, 
Ohio, October 27th, 1890. 

Sarah Elizabeth Coe, who married Joseph Patten, died October 18th, 
1897, aged nearly seventy-two and a half years. 



William Coe, born March 20th, 1827, in Ohio. He served in the 
Civil war in Company I, 88th regiment, 0. V. I. Died April 15th, 1895. 
The graves of these last three are in River CHff cemetery. 

John Ross Coe, born , died March 9th, 1905, at Wood- 
burn, Oregon, aged 75 years. His grave is at Napa, California. 

Martha Jane Coe, born . Her first marriage was to 

William L. Summers, and after his death she married Capt. J. O. Mc- 
Donald, late Co. B, 43d Regiment, O. V. I. She died October 18th, 
1897. 

Emma, who married William Logan, late Serg't Co. K, 9th Regi- 
ment, 0. V. Cav. 

Captain Alben Coe, Jr., Serg't Co. C, 64th Regiment, 0. V. I. and 
late Captain Co. E, 9th 0. V. Cav. 

All these children are dead, and the last one to die was Captain Al- 
ben Coe,, who died June 15, 1908| Five of these died in Morrow county, 
Ohio. The descendants of aunt Ruth Nickols Coe are fully forty-five, 
and include the fourth generation from her. 

3d. George Nickols, the second son, was born May 24th, 1807, and 
died September 18th, 1885, at his home in Morrow county, Ohio, and is 
buried in River Cliff cemetery, Mt. Gilead. He went back to Virginia 
for his first wife, who was Julia Ann Bradfield, and by whom he had nine 
children, two dying m infancy. She died July 12th, 1845. Her children 
were Sarah, who married Thomas Wallace. The Wallace children reside 
in Tama county, Iowa. 

Matilda, who married William Farris, November 10th, 1853. He 
served as a soldier in Company I, 3d, and Company C, 96th, Regiments 
O. V. I. The Farris children resid« at Ellsworth, Kansas. 

Alcinda, who married James K. Waltermire April 23d, 1855, and 
some of whose children reside at Forest, Ohio. 

Ruth, who married Franklin Waltermire, December 9th, 1855, and 
whose children are in Colorado. 

Julia Ann, who married Thomas Brov/n, and their tlescendants re- 
side near Rock Island, Illinois. 

Tamzen, who married Joseph Fluckey, October 7th, 1861, their child- 
ren residing at , Nebraska. 

And Abner Nickols, who resides at Nevada, Missouri. 

About four years after the death of aunt Julia A,, uncle George 
married Athanissa Spencer in 1849, by whom he had seven children, two 
of whom, Jonah and Ellsworth, died in childhood. The other five are 
Joel, John, George Warren, Eunice, who married Ezekiel McPeek, and 
Etta, who married Riley McPeek. All except Eunice McPeek are living 
and (except Joel) in Morrow county, Ohio. 

Uncle George's sixteen children comprised the largest of the twelve 
families, and they and their descendants to the fourth generation are 
more than seventy. 



8 

4th. Albert Nickols, the third son, was born June 28th, 1808. He 
married Rachel Miller and on September 19, 1833, lost a son, John M., 
aged seven months, whose grave is near that of grandmother's in the 
old cemetery at Mt. Gilead, Ohio, Uncle Albert and family emigrated 
to Cole Camp, Benton county, Missouri, in 1834 or 1835. But little is 
known of his family. He was a soldier in the second year of the Mex- 
ican war, and in California in 1850, and on his return journey visited in 
this county. During the Civil war he and his family were reported to 
be staunch Unionists. He died May 2d, 1866, and his wife, Rachel, Feb- 
ruary 25th, 1874, in Cole Camp, Benton county, Missouri. Their chil- 
dren were ten, only one of whom, Theodore Benton Nickols, of Morris, 
Oklahoma, yet survives. The children were Martha, Jane, John, Na- 
than, Almira, Sarah, Louisa, Mary Susan, born March 10th, 1847, mar- 
ried T. M. Berry March 23d, 1866, and died February 14, 1908 ; to this 
union nine children, seven sons and two daughters, were born. Albert 
Berry, grandson of uncle Albert Nickols, lives in Texas, and Mrs. Net- 
tles in Ada, Oklahoma. 

Theodore Benton Nickols, born September 10th, 1849 ; a son un- 
named who died in childhood, and Charles Henry Nickols. Except Theo- 
dore Benton these children all lived in Benton county, Missouri. 

5th. Harriet Nickols, the second daughter brought to Ohio by 
grandmother, married Robert F. Hickman, April 14th, 1831, at Mt. 
Gilead, Ohio. She was born March 30th, 1810, and died at Somerset, 
Perry county, Ohio, November 2d, 1842. Their oldest daughter, Mary 
Frances, was born January 23d, 1832, and died April 1st, 1832. Wesley 
Clark, the oldest son, was born December 30, 1832, at Chesterville, Mor- 
row (then Knox) county, Ohio. He served over three years in Company 
1, 5th regiment, O. V. I., and was severely wounded in battle. He died 
at Nelsonville, Athens county, Ohio, November lOtb, 1898. 

Sarah Theresa was born August 14, 1834, died September 13, 1835. 

Robert Fletcher was born December 22d, 1835, at Fredericktown, 
Knox county, Ohio. He served three months in 1861, as a soldier in 
Company E, 17th regiment, O. V. I. ; also in Company C, 62d O. V. I. 
and as Adjutant 160th regiment, O. V. I. He died January 23d, 1868. 

Emma Maria, the third daughter, was born at Fredericktown, Ohio, 
September 20th. 1837. She was married to Hector B. Keeler, at Mt. 
Vernon, Ohio. He died April 21st, 1885. Their son, Robert M. Keeler, 
died July 20th, 1863, aged two years, and the graves of father and son 
are side by side in River Cliff cemetery. Carrie E. and Harriet E., 
daughters, and the mother reside at 5515 Madison avenue, Chicago, 
Illinois. 

Willis Gaylord, third son, was born at Mt. Vernon, Ohio, October 
16th, 1839. He served three years as a soldier in Company E, 1st Bat- 
talion, 18th regiment, U. S. Infantry. He resides at Nelsonville, Ohio, 
and has three children. 



^ 9 

Thomas Nathan, fourth son, was born at Mt. Vernon, Ohio, August 
6th, 1842. married Jane S. Mosher August 30th, 1867, and resides near 
Mt. Gilead, Ohio. He served as a soldier in Company E, 17 regiment O. 
V. I., from April 27th to August 16th, 1861, and also in Company E 1st 
Battalion, 18th regiment U. S. Infantry, and lost his right arm at the 
battle of Stone River, Tennessee, January 1st, 1863. He and Wesley C. 
Hickman have numerous children and grandchildren. The descendents 
of aunt Harriet are fifty-four. 

6th. Massey Nickols was born December 13th, 1811, married Nor- 
val Valentine Hiskett February 12th, 1829, at Mt. Gilead, Ohio, and died 
April 19th, 1844. H-^ was born February 15th, 1805, and died February 
8th, 185C^ Both are buried near the grave of grandmother. Their chil- 
dren were Adelaide Amanda, born January 30th, 1830, and died July 22d, 
1849. 

George William Hiskett, born December 24th, 1831. Post office, 
Fulton, Ohio. 

Nathan Nickols Hiskett, born February 19th, 1834, and died August 
25th, 1909. 

Matilda Ann, born March 3d, 1836, married Isaac ^ Speck and re- 
sides at Lima, Ohio. She is a widow and has numerous children and 
grandchildren. 

Charles S., born February 7th, 1838. He served three years in the 
Civil war in Company I, 3d regiment O. V. I. He resides at Isabel, 
Barber county, Kansas. 

John Murray, born November 8th, 1839. He served as a soldier 
from April 25th, 1861, to June 21st, 1864, in Company I, 3d regiment O. 
V. I. and was mustered out as Sergeant. He resides at Laredo, Missouri. 

Benjamin Franklin, born February 5th, 1842, and died July 26th, 
1849. His and Adelaide's graves are near grandmother's grave. The de- 
scendants of aunt Massey are fifty- five. 

7th. Margaret Nickols, born August 4th, 1813, married Abraham 
Coe November 5th, 1829, died September 21st, 1849, and her grave is in 
River CHff cemetery. He was born December 23d, 1806, and died Octo- 
ber 7th, 1893, and their graves are side by side. 

Their children are Emily Ruth, born October 25th, 1880. Married 
Samuel Ewers February 10th, 1848, and died October 24th, 1887. Her 
grave is in River Ciiff cemetery. 

Matilda J., born March 5th, 1832 ; married Ebenezer Goorley May 
13th, 1852, and died May 8th, 1906. Her grave is beside his in *River 
Cliff cemetery. 

Sarah Ann, born December 28th, 1833. Married John Blaney No- 
vember 18th, 1852, and died March 16th, 1864. 

Simeon, born October 15th, 1835, and died in childhood. 

Nathan Nickols Coe, born November 8th, 1837. Residence and post- 
office at Edison, Ohio. 



10 

John W. Coe, born May 8th, 1840, died February 9th, 1902, at 
Olathe, Kansas. He served three years in Company D, 96th regiment 
O. V. I., in the Civil war. He married Mora Breyfogle about 1866, at 
Delaware county, Ohio, and she and family reside at Olathe, Kansas. 

Martha J., born April 20th, ]843. Married Thomas Turner Decem- 
ber 10th, 1874, and died January 3d, 1890. He served in the war with 
Mexico and in Company B, 43d O. V. I. in the Civil war. 

Samuel Allen Coe, born September 26th, 1846. Post office, Edison, 
Ohio. 
George 0. Coe, born March 23d, 1849. Post office, Edison, Ohio. 
Aunt Margaret's descendants are more than sixty. 

8th. Martha Nickols was born April 26th, 1815, and married Preston 
J. Friend at Mt. Gilead, Ohio, July 16th, 1835. They went to Cedar 
county, Iowa, and she died at Tipton, Iowa, April 26th, 1849. He died 
at the same place July 29th, 1867. Two children, a son and daughter, 
were born to them. Nathan Nickols Friend, born January 13th, 1838, 
resides at -Goldwater Harb^*, Florida, and has one daughter, Mrs. Nel- 
lie Tibbetts, who has three daughters and resides at Tampa, Florida. 

The daughter, Sarah E. Friend, was born November 4th, 1841. She 
married John Ross Coe, who died March 9th, 1905, and was buried at 
Napa, California. They had one son, Ross Lee Coe, who was born Oc- 
tober 15th, 1876, and he has a daughter, Donna Ruth, born September 
7th, 1906, and a son. Argil, born August 9th, 1908. Sarah E. Coe and 
son, Ross Lee Coe, reside at Woodburn, Oregon. 

The descendants of aunt Martha Nickols Friend are nine. 

9th. Ann Nickols, born July 13th, 1817, married Jacob Painter De- 
cember 3d, 1833, and died January 30th, 1861 . Her grave is in River 
Cliff cemetery, Mt. Gilead, Ohio. Ten children were born to them, viz : 

Angeline, born July 29th, 1834, married to William Nelson Moody 
July 31st, 1859, and died at Woodhull, Illinois, February 17th, 1906. She 
left ten children, twenty grandchildren and six great grandchildren. 

Aunt Ann in 1841 lost three children by scarlet fever next younger 
than Angeline. 

Sarah Caroline, born April 26th, 1842, married John Ryan at Mt. 
Gilead, Ohio, January 1st, 1865, and died July 7th, 1897. Her life was a 
benediction to her friends and acquaintances. 

Melissa, bDrn . Married Nathan Herendeen, Novem- 
ber 3d, 1864. He was a soldier in Company E, 31st Regiment O. V. I. 
She died November 23d, 1908, at Waverly, Kansas. 

John G., born , and died November 15th, 1908, at Wav- 
erly, Kansas. 

Lucretia, born , married Burr Coombs, and died at 

Newmarket, Iowa, . She left eight children, viz : Cora, 

Nellie, George, Charles, Ned, Lizzie, Lloyd and Osa Coombs. 

George W., born March 16th, 1849, died September 1st, 1873. He 



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11 

left a son George and daughter Lillie, who married Hubert Leveling. 

Editha, born , married J. F. Carney, and they now re- 
side at Hamilton, Indiana. 

The descendants of aunt Ann are fully fifty-five. 

10th. Sarah Nickols was born January 7th, 1819, married Abner M. 
Bartlett November 9th, 1837, and died March 27th 1856. He was born 
April 16th, 1816, and died August 31st, 1885. They lie side by side in 
River Cliff cemetery. To them nine children were born ; all in or near 
Mt. Gilead, Ohio. 

A daughter unnamed who died at birth. 

Robert Franklin, born April 8th, 1840. He served as 1st sergeant in 
Company D, 96th regiment O. V. I. in Civil war, was wounded by shell 
January 11th, 1863, at Arkansas Post, Arkansas, and again by gunshot 
November 3d, 1863, at battle of Grand Coteau, Louisiana, and lost left 
arm. Residence and post office at Mt. Gilead, Ohio. 

Wesley Clark, born September 24th, 1842, and died December 7th, 
1842. His grave is near that of grandmother. 

John Oscar, born January 24th, 1844, Was corporal in Company D, 
65th regiment 0. V. I. and was killed September 19th, 1863, at battle of 
Chickamauga, Georgia. His grave is unknown. 

Juliaette, born December 8th, 1845. Married October 12, 1865, to 
John B. Gatchell, who served four years and four months in Company I, 
15th O. V. L and in Company F, 55th O. V. L He was wounded at 
Gettysburg July 2d, 1863. He died July 17th, 1896. They have two 
sons, Fred B. at Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and Frank P. at Guthrie, 
Oklahoma. She now resides at Pomona, California. 

Druzilla Althea, born June 7th, 1848. Married November 15th, 1866, 
to George W. Montgomery, who served one year in Company D, 96th 
regiment O. V. L in the Civil war. They had one son, George H., who 
resides at Morrill, Nebraska. George W. died June 3d, 1868, and on 
October 29th, 1876, she was again married to John Bortner. One 
son, Clarence, was born to them and died at the age of nineteen. She 
died September 19th, 1908. 

Sarah Marsella, born October 1st, 1850. Married William A. 
Braden March 20th, 1873, and died September 2nd, 1901. They had one 
daughter, Ida, and five sons. Ida married Frank Nesbitt and they have 
three sons and one daughter. The five sons are Charles, Homer, Ray 
and Ralph, (twins) and Arthur, who died in childhood. All live near 
Iberia, Morrow county, Ohio. 

Albert Warner, born February 22d, 1854, and married Anna Gra- 
ham January 27th, 1881. They have one daughter, Elizabeth Francesca, 
(who married Judd H. Yetter and they have a son, Eugene Albert, born 
March 5th, 1909, the family residing at Salina, Kansas,) and one son, 
Thomas Graham Bartlett, who resides with his parents at Pomona, Cal. 

Nathan Herbert, born January 22d, 1856. Married Cora, daughter of 



12 

Dwigfht Bartlett, of Cincinnati, Ohio, August , 1884. Tiiey have one 

daughter, Helen Genevieve, and two sons, Oscar and Ernest, all resid- 
ing at Winfield, Kansas, since October, 1901. 

The descendants of Sarah Nickols Bartlett are thirty-two. 

11th. Mary Elizabeth Nickols, born May 11th, 1822, and was mar- 
ried to Joel R. Bartlett April 13th, 184.^ He died January 15th, 1864, 
aged fifty-eight and one-half years. She died July 10th, 1886, both in 
McDonough county, Illinois, and their graves are in Friendship ceme- 
tery, Macomb, Illinois. 

Their daughter, Ann Eliza, was born March 3d, 1844, and married 
Joseph A. James November— — , 1887, who served in the Civil war in 
Company C, 78th Illinois Volunteer Infantry, 2d Brigade, 2d Division, 
14th Army Corps from August 2d, 1862, to close of Civil War. They re- 
side at 3021 Seneca street, Saint Joseph, Missouri 

Harriet N. was born October 28th, 1845. Married J. J. Kirk at Mc- 
Donough county, Illinois, and she there resides. He died May 17th, 1908. 

Abner M was born March 13th, 1850, and resides at Larned, Kansas. 

Ross L. was born November 6th, 1852, and died August 10th, 1888. 

Joel Elmore was born November 6th, 1854, died May 7th, 1864, and 
his grave is in River Cliff cemetery. 

Eugene Benton, born August 18th, 1857, and resides at Colchester, 
Illinois. 

George Nathan, born January 29th, 1859. Residence unknown. 

Clarence L , born September 1st, 1862, and resides at Colmar, 111. 

All of these eight children were born in Morrow county, Ohio, and 
in December, 1863, the family removed to McDonough county, Illinois. 

The descendants of aunt Mary Elizabeth Bartlett are about twenty. 

12th. Nathan Nickols, Jr., was born May 11th, 1826, in Loudoun 
county, Virginia, and died January 10th, 1885, in McDonough county, 
Illinois. He was the youngest of the twelve children brought to Ohio 
by grandmother in 1827. Under grandfather's will he inherited, at 
grandmother's death, the old homestead of one hundred and sixty acres 
next south of Mt. Gilead, Ohio, in which the old homestead of Wm. Mil- 
ler, deceased, (now owned by his widow and son) and the Agricultural 
Society fair grounds are included He was first married to Orpha Buf- 
fington, foster daughter of Joseph Smith, and to them three sons were 
born ; first, twins, (one of whom died in childhood) and John B. S., who 
married Miss Ella Sanderson March 11th, 1874, and died leaving her his 
widow, and then Melville W., who died in the hospital at Nashville, 
Tennessee, February 19th, 1865. He was a soldier in Company A, 174th 
Regiment O. V. I. His grave is in section G, grave 782, Nashville 
National cemetery. 

Uncle Nathan's second marriage was to Sarah A. Huffmire, who 
died December 11th, 1867. One daughter, Rosa Belle Marie (who mar- 
ried Edgar Martin), was born to them. Rosa Belle Marie Martin and 



13 

family reside at Macomb, Illinois, and she is a widow. 

His third marriage wa<=5 to Mary Dean October , 1868, and their 

son, William Nickols resides at Centerburg, Knox county, Ohio. 

His fourth marriage was to Elizabeth Camp, a widow, whose maid- 
en name was Kel lough, and to them one daughter, Carrie, was born. 

She married Curtis, and she and husband reside at Prairie City, 

Illinois. He, Nathan, and his wife Elizabeth are buried in the cemetery 
at Macomb, Illinois. 

Uncle Nathan's descendants are about nine. 

The descendants of our grandmother are all found on the side of' 
Temperance, and of every moral and progressive issue. 

The family of our grandmother Sarah Thomas Nickols was held in 
high respect. It was a genuine amiable Virginia family and showed 
the hospitality for which the people of that state were, and are, noted. 
She says they lived in "peace and harmony. " They had to. There 
were so many of them, it would not do to quarrel. You know whereof 
1 write You recall the amiability of our aunts and uncles and cousins. 

I think we never visit the grave of our grandmother but we silently 
compose a prayer of benediction to her memory. 

Her descendants are nearly five hundred. ''After life's fitful fever, 
she sleeps well." 

You want to know something about our kin yet living in Virginia 
and in the west. Susannah, or Susan Thomas, a sister to grandmother, 
married John Ross and they reared a family of several children in Lou- 
doun county, Virginia, some of 'vhose names were William Ross, John 
Thomas Ross, Aloert Ross and Franklin Ross. The latter moved to 
Weston, Geary county, Kansas, and his descendants are in or near there. 

Albert Ross emigrated to Marshall, Clark county, Illinois, and his 
descendants are there. 

The children of John Thomas Ross, who died February 14th, 1899, 
are living in Loudoun county, Virginia ; viz : Fenton Thomas Ross, Ida 
L. Otley and Mary Anna Chamblin at Bluemont, Virginia, and Turner J. 
Ross, Upperville, Virginia. They are your second cousins. 

Joseph Thomas, a brother to our grandmother, reared a family in 
Loudoun county, Virginia. His oldest son was Mahlon Thomas, deceased 
many years ago, whose children yet living are Martha James, Round 
Hill, Virginia ; Margaret Birdsall, Etta Thomas and Hannah Thomas, 
Purcellville, Virginia ; Ruth Nixon, Woodburn, Virginia ; Tamar Simp- 
son, Philo nont, Virginia, and Virginia Piggott, Silcott Springs, Virginia. 

Owen Thomas was also a son of Joseph, and Owen's children are 
Joseph B. Thomas, Oweif I. Thomas and John Davis Thomas, of Round 
• ' Hill, Virginia ; Dr. George H. Thomas, of Romney, West Virginia, and 
^^^^ '^ ^ -Ruth Lee Rogers, of Barnesville, Ohip. 

Martha Thomas, a spinster, who saved every paper with writing on 
it that she could lay her hands on, was a daughter of Joseph Thomas. 



14 

We are indebted to her for the old letters of uncles Jesse and Philip 
and grandmother, which I have. 

Esther Holmes also was a daughter of Joseph Thomas and her sor, 
George W. Holmes, resides near Leesburg, Virginia, that being his 
post office address. 

Ruth, Ann and Matilda Thomas were also sisters to grandmother, 
but I have not been able to learn anything of their descendants. 

It is expected that each member of the family, of Nickols-Thomas 
blood, will add the genealogy of her or his respective family down to the 
latest birth, and send a copy of the genealogy added, to me. 

With much love to you all, dear cousins, I am 

Very sincerely yours 

ROBT. F. BARTLEIT. 
Mt. Gilead, Ohio, September 9th, 1909. 



15 



APPENDIX 

Owen Thomas, (page 5) the father of Sarah Thomas Niekols, Susan 
Thomas Ross. Philip,^ J essts and Joseph Thomas, was born in Chester Co. 
Pa., on May 12th. 1754. He was a soldier in the war of American Revo- 
lution. His first enlistment was with Capt. Geo. Smith at Montg^omery 
Tp., Philadelphia Co , Pa., on July 3lst, 1775, and he was discharged Oct. 
5Lh, 1775. Second, Sept. 12th, 1777, with Capt. Isaac Longstreth and 

Curry was colonel of the Regt. b'eby. 18th, 1776, he was taken 

prisoner and was detained as such five months. 

July 3()th. 1782, he was drafted for three months at Loudoun Co., Va. . 

and served under Capt. Thos. Cannon, and — r Merewether was 

colonel of the Regt. Some time prior to July 30th, 1782. he had moved 
to Loudoun Co., Va. 

He applied for, and a pension was granted him, as such soldier. 
These facts are of record in, and have been obtained from the Pension 
Bureau, Washington, D. C. By tradition, Owen's brother Philip was 
also a soldier of the Revolution. Owen's descendents, (of whom it is be 
lieve'd there are more than one thousand) are entitled to become mem- 
bers of the societies of the Daughters, or Sons of the American Revolu- 
tion. Down to the Civil War his flintlock musket was in existence in 
Loudoun Co., Va., and disappeared during that struggle. 

OMISSIONS AND CORRECTIONS. 

Page 5, 2nd line -July 9th should be May 12th 

Page 7, -The correct year of Capt. Alben Coe's death is 1909. 

Page 9, -The correct year of N. V. Hiskett's death is 1852. The 
name Isaac E. Speck should be Isaac G Speck. 

Page 10, — The address of N. N. Friend should be Clearwater, Fla. 

Page 11, 10th paragraph — Wm. A Braden was a soldier in Co. C, 
85th, and Co. I, 87th Regts. O. V. I in Civil War. 

Page 13 -The nam.e Ruth Lee Rogers should be Annie Lee Rogers. 



LE D 12 



Nicl^ols - Thomas 



Historical 



and Genealogical 



1909 



/ 



